Investing In Infrastructure: Bringing Children Back To School

CRY's Campaign 'Right to School' to Ensure 2,71,341 Children Across CRY-supported Projects not Only go to School but Also Complete Their Education

Parents of children in Nagfena, a small village situated in the Bolangir district in Odisha, India, had to pray for their children's safety every time they attended the government primary school. The school, which had 65 students enrolled in classes I to V, had only 36 students regularly attending classes. Not wanting their children to study in classrooms with a damaged roof, many parents resorted to the decision of not sending them to school at all, especially during monsoons. Persistent complaints by the community to the headmaster yielded no results for two years. With the intervention of CRY-supported project ADHAR, the matter was escalated at the block and the district level and a complaint seeking immediate redressal was submitted. After much effort, a new school building was allocated and the damaged building repaired as well. The attendance, of course became remarkably better with an increase of almost 45%.

This is just one of the many cases CRY has witnessed which highlights the strong linkage between student attendance and lack of proper infrastructure in schools, which impacts the quality of education overall. About 2,80,775 elementary schools in India still do not have toilets for girls, over 5 lakh do not have boundary wall and 30% do not have a playground.